The real highlight of this trio of videos is an alternate ending for the Mandarin – one that might have gotten a few laughs, but doesn’t feel particularly fitting for one of Iron Man’s most enduring foes.

Check out the clips below, but be warned – they obviously contain spoilers about the ending of the movie.

We start off with the alternate ending, which finds Ben Kingsley’s Mandarin blowing himself up on accident. Without getting into the whole Slattery vs. Killian thing that seems to confound people when it comes to Iron Man 3, this ending would have been good for a few laughs, but at the cost of removing Ben Kingsley from the Marvel universe. That’s a pretty steep price for what is essentially a cheap gag – and the cinematic version leaves the door open for the character to return at some future point. This seems like a wise move, but at least we can see what might have been in this clip.

The other two animatics showcase more of the ending sequence of the film. Shane Black clearly used D’Alessandro’s work as his blueprint, because there aren’t many deviations between the animated images and what made it into the film. There are some minor tweaks and adjustments, but that’s about it.

What’s really cool about these animatics is the quality of the artwork. These are basically animated storyboards, yet watching them is not unlike watching an animated series. D’Alessandro brings the story to life with these drawings – and it’s really cool seeing how scenes were originally conceived and comparing them to the actual film.

Have a peek at all three clips and let us know what you think. Do you prefer the cinematic ending of Iron Man 3 or do you wish they’d have gone with the sequence as shown in D’Alessandro’s artwork? [via /Film]

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